that is

English

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English that is, from Old English þæt is, from Proto-West Germanic *þat isti.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Mid-Atlantic US):

  (file)

Adverb

that is (not comparable)

1. (conjunctive) In other words; that is to say. Used to introduce a clarification or explanation

   Synonyms: that is to say, i.e.; see also Thesaurus:in other words

   The Brazilian population is multiethnic—that is, it has many ethnicities.

   We have never met —not formally, that is.

   • 1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:

     Mr. Underwood not only ran The Maycomb Tribune office, he lived in it. That is, above it.

   • 1981 December 27, Wade Nichols, “Victorian Imperialism”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 23, page 5:

     Some say history repeats itself, that time is cyclical. Others cling to the notion of progress and change over time. Apparently Nancy Walker marches to a different drummer — marches backwards, that is. Her ideas on art and society seem quaint and odd on the one hand and, on the other, petty and regressive.

Translations

in other words — see also that is to say,‎ in other words

• Afrikaans: dit wil sê
• Arabic: يَعْنِي (yaʕnī), أَي (ar) (ʔay)
• Aragonese: ye dicir
• Armenian: այսինքն (hy) (aysinkʻn)
• Asturian: ye dicir
• Azerbaijani: yəni (az), deməli (az), demək (az)
• Bashkir: йәғни (yäğniy)
• Basque: hau da
• Belarusian: гэ́та зна́чыць (héta znáčycʹ), г.зн. (h.zn.), то́ бок (tó bok) (colloquial)
• Bulgarian: то́ест (bg) (tóest), т. е. (t. e.), си́реч (bg) (síreč)
• Catalan: és a dir (ca), ço és (ca), o sigui (hispanism)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 即係話 / 即系话 (zik¹ hai⁶ waa⁶)

  Mandarin: 就是說 / 就是说 (zh) (jiùshìshuō), 換句話說 / 换句话说 (zh) (huànjùhuàshuō), 亦即 (zh) (yìjí)

• Czech: to znamená, jinými slovy, to je
• Danish: det vil sige, dvs. (da)
• Dutch: namelijk (nl), dat wil zeggen (nl), met andere woorden (nl)
• Esperanto: tio estas
• Finnish: eli (fi), nimittäin (fi), toisin sanoen; meinaan (fi) (colloquial)
• French: c'est-à-dire (fr), c-à-d (fr) (abbreviation)
• Georgian: ესე იგი (ese igi), ანუ (anu)
• German: das heißt (de)
• Greek: δηλαδή (el) (diladí)
• Haitian Creole: sètadi
• Hebrew: כְּלוֹמַר (he) (k'lomár), במילים אחרות (bemilím acherót), היינו (haynu)
• Hindi: यानी (hi) (yānī)
• Hungarian: azaz (hu), illetve (hu)
• Icelandic: það er
• Irish: mar atá

  Old Irish: ed ón

• Italian: cioè (it), cioè a dire
• Japanese: つまり (ja) (tsumari), すなわち (ja) (sunawachi)
• Kazakh: яғни (yağnıy)
• Khmer: គ៖ (kɨː)
• Korean: 즉 (ko) (jeuk), 말하자면 (malhajamyeon)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ango (ku), dêmek (ku), yenî (ku)

• Latin: vidēlicet, id est (la)
• Lithuanian: tai yra
• Macedonian: то ест (to est)
• Malay: yakni
• Maltese: jiġifieri
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: але (aĺe)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: altså (no)

  Nynorsk: altso

• Old Church Slavonic: си рѣчь (si rěčĭ)
• Old English: þæt is
• Persian: یعنی (fa) (ya'ni)
• Polish: mianowicie (pl), czyli (pl), to znaczy (pl), to jest (pl)
• Portuguese: isto é (pt), ou seja (pt)
• Romanian: adică (ro)
• Russian: то́ есть (ru) (tó jestʹ), т. е. (ru) (t. je.), то́ бишь (ru) (tó bišʹ) (colloquial), ина́че говоря́ (ru) (ináče govorjá), други́ми слова́ми (drugími slovámi)
• Scottish Gaelic: sin a ràdh, sin ri ràdh, 's e sin
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: то јест

  Latin: to jest

• Spanish: o sea (es)
• Swahili: yaani
• Swedish: det vill säga (sv)
• Tagalog: alalaong baga'y, kumbaga
• Tajik: яъне (tg) (ya'ne)
• Tamil: அதாவது (ta) (atāvatu)
• Thai: คือ (th) (kʉʉ)
• Turkish: yani (tr), başka bir deyişle
• Ukrainian: то́бто (uk) (tóbto), це́бто (uk) (cébto), се́бто (sébto)
• Urdu: یعنی (ur) (ya'nī)
• Uzbek: yaʼni (uz)
• Vietnamese: tức là (vi), nghĩa là
• Welsh: sef, hynny yw
• Yoruba: ìyẹn ni pé

Anagrams

• Hiatts, hattis, staith